Talk:William McIntosh

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[edit] Permission request

Request for use of copyright protected material sent to Carole E. Scott

Vern Reisenleiter 20:08, 8 August 2005 (UTC)

Received

Original Message --------

Subject: Re: Article on William McIntosh
Date:    Mon, 8 Aug 2005 20:27:06 -0700 (PDT)

Hi

I am familiar with Wikipedia. In face, I used it today. I had thought of getting involved with it myself, but have not done so. You can use my McIntosh material.

Carole Scott

Vern Reisenleiter 17:24, 9 August 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Hidden reference

Article contains a hidden reference on McIntosh and Weatherford. On order from library.

Vern Reisenleiter 21:07, 11 August 2005 (UTC)

[edit] McIntosh's father

In my reading, the elder William McIntosh hailed from and returned to Scotland, not Savannah. There was another William McIntosh who lived in Savannah as a contemporary of the subject of this article, but he was a nephew of our subject's father, hence our subject's cousin. Our author confused the two identically named men (which is hardly surprising.) Documentation is in Michael D. Green, The Politics of Indian Removal (Lincoln, Neb., 1982). -- Alarob 00:25, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Critique

The article seems concerned with relatively trivial events in McIntosh's life while ignoring the major facts, both positive and negative. In no particular order, here are key points about William McIntosh:

• McIntosh was evidently a talented orator and diplomat.
• McIntosh and the law menders helped start the Creek War (which was not an Upper Creek rebellion, as the article currently states). When the U.S. became involved, he fought alongside Andrew Jackson's Tennessee militia.
• He was a wealthy planter, slaveowner, businessman, and proprietor of the Indian Springs resort hotel.
• McIntosh was key to bringing missionary educators into the Creek Nation.
• McIntosh and Creek agent (and former Georgia governor) David Mitchell profited hugely off the federal annuity to the Creek Nation, i.e., they looted the national treasury. (Pres. Madison fired Mitchell.)
• His wealth and charisma allowed him to form a political patronage network that threatened the authority of the principal chiefs and encouraged whites to treat with him as a national leader.
• McIntosh promoted Georgia's expansionist aims. The Cherokee Council exposed McIntosh's attempt to bribe members in order to get a land cession.
• He was celebrated as an exemplar of the "civilized" Indian and toasted in white society.
• He was a formidable warrior and evidently quite charismatic.
• He was first cousin of Georgia Gov. George Troup, and on familiar terms with John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, and other prominent Americans.
• McIntosh was a frequent practitioner of treaty fraud, notably in 1821 and 1825, and earned tens of thousands of dollars in bribes.
• His corrupt practices led the Creek National Council to expel him and his son in disgrace.
• His death incited a controversy that involved the U.S. Congress and national press.
• White writers continued to produce eulogistic literature about him for more than a century, some of it quite fanciful. Often they wrote about him in racist terms, ascribing his accomplishments to his white ancestry.
• The factionalism he introduced into Creek politics continued to influence the Nation's affairs for a long time afterward -- arguably even after removal to Indian Territory.

He's a great subject for biography, but we haven't even begun to tell his story properly. I'll contribute as I can. -- Alarob 01:08, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Bibliography

I've done some research on McIntosh before, and thought this list might be useful to interested editors. In reverse chronological order:

• Andrew K. Frank, Creeks and Southerners: Biculturalism on the Early American Frontier (Lincoln, Neb., 2005). Includes a chapter on William McIntosh ("Tustunnuggee Hutkee").
• Michael D. Green, "William McIntosh: The Evolution of a Creek National Idea," in The Human Tradition in the Old South, ed. James C. Klotter (Wilmington, Del., 2003). Describes McIntosh as a traitor to the Creek Nation.
• Billie Jane McIntosh, Ah-ko-kee, American Sovereign (Flagstaff, Ariz., 2002). This was written by a descendant. It's an imaginative romance novel starring one of William McIntosh's daughters, and should not be mistaken for history.
• Claudio Saunt, A New Order of Things: Property, Power, and the Transformation of the Creek Indians, 1733-1816 (Cambridge, 1999). Only incidentally about McIntosh, but an important study of his lifetime.
• Joel Martin, Sacred Revolt: The Muskogees’ Struggle for a New World (Boston, 1991). An interesting take on the Creek War as a religious struggle.
• Betty Collins Jones, Clouds across the Moon (Carrollton, Ga., 1991). Another William McIntosh romance novel, never intended as history. Don't be confused by the West Georgia College connection. The author's research never got far beyond picture books about Indians.
• George Chapman, Chief William McIntosh: A Man of Two Worlds (Atlanta, 1988). A sincere attempt to separate fact from legend.
• Benjamin Griffith, McIntosh and Weatherford, Creek Indian Leaders (Tuscaloosa, Ala., 1988). A dual biography of McIntosh and William Weatherford, not to be relied on too much.
• Michael D. Green, The Politics of Indian Removal: Creek Government and Society in Crisis (Lincoln, Neb., 1982). The best history of the fall of the Creek Nation in Georgia and Alabama, with much to say about McIntosh.
• David P. Mason, Five Dollars a Scalp: The Last Mighty War Whoop of the Creek Indians (Huntsville, Ala., 1975). A sentimental book that has misinformed generations of readers. Its countless errors begin with the title.
• Royce Gordon Shingleton, "David Brydie Mitchell and the African Importation Case of 1820," Journal of Negro History 58 (3) (July 1973): 327-340. For McIntosh and Mitchell's activities as slave smugglers.
• Bert Hodges, "Notes on the History of the Creek Nation and Some of Its Leaders," Chronicles of Oklahoma 43 (1965): 9-18. Mostly about the descendants. Chronicles of Oklahoma can be read online.
• James C. Bonner, "William McIntosh," in Georgians in Profile, (Athens, Ga., 1958). An older biographical essay.
• R.S. Cotterill, The Southern Indians: The Story of the Civilized Tribes before Removal (Norman, Okla., 1954). This book introduced the idea of the Creek War as a civil war within a divided Indian nation (rather than a red-white race war).
• John Bartlett Meserve, "The MacIntoshes" [sic], Chronicles of Oklahoma 10 (1932): 310-25.
• Thomas S. Woodward, Woodward's Reminiscences of the Creek, or Muscogee Indians (Montgomery, 1859). Includes an admiring portrait of McIntosh's generalship by one who served under him.
• Thomas L. McKenney and James Hall, The History of the Indian Tribes of North America (Philadelphia, 1836-1844)[1]. Includes a short, unreliable bio and famous portrait of McIntosh.
• William Gilmore Simms, "The Broken Arrow," in The Book of My Lady: A Melange. By a Bachelor Knight (Philadelphia, 1833). A strange poem about McIntosh by a writer who should have known better.
• Ebenezer H. Cummins, A Summary Geography of Alabama, One of the United States (Philadelphia, 1819). This short book includes an example of the praise heaped on McIntosh during his lifetime by white admirers.

Feel free to add to this list. OTOH if it's too long, say so.

[edit] Upper/Lower Creeks

[2] states that McIntosh was a chief of the Lower Creeks; this article currently includes him with the Upper Creeks. Which is it? I'm working on an article about McIntosh Reserve, and I would like to have more information about its history. Thanks, Aylad (talk) 03:35, 28 April 2008 (UTC)